“I Prayed for South Africa”: Nigerian Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali Speaks Again Ahead of AFCON Semis

“I Prayed for South Africa”: Nigerian Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali Speaks Again Ahead of AFCON Semis

  • Nigerian goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali had shared his thoughts before the crucial match against South Africa
  • The in-form goalkeeper had indicated after his side defeated Angola that he was looking forward to one particular team
  • The Nigerian star had looked confident facing his club’s country and had appeared to be willing to use some of the experience

Nigerian goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali had spoken his mind ahead of the crucial match against South Africa on Wednesday.

The in-form goalkeeper, who had been instrumental in his team's progress to the semi-finals, had indicated after his side defeated Angola in a thrilling encounter that he was looking forward to playing against South Africa, GOAL reported.

Photo of Nwabali
The goalkeeper appears ready. Photo credit: Legit.ng Archive
Source: Instagram

The Nigerian star, who plays for South African club Chippa United, had looked confident facing his club’s country and had appeared to be willing to use some of the experience he had gathered from playing in the South African league to make a difference in the match.

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Nwabali had expressed his respect for the South African team, but had also stated his determination to help Nigeria reach the final.

Nwabali's AFCON performance

Nwabali is the goalkeeper of the Nigerian national football team, the Super Eagles.

He has been one of the best performers at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023, which is currently taking place in Ivory Coast.

So far, he has kept four consecutive clean sheets in the tournament, against Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, and Angola. This is a new Nigerian record, surpassing Alloy Agu’s three-game streak in 1990.

He has also equalled the record of legendary goalkeeper Best Ogedegbe, who kept four clean sheets in a row in 1980, when Nigeria won their first AFCON title.

Super Eagles star goalkeeper Nwabali makes history

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Nwabali equalled a 44-year record after keeping another clean sheet in Nigeria’s 1-0 quarter-finals win over Angola at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 in Ivory Coast.

The Super Eagles beat the Palancas Negras on Friday, February 2, to progress to the semi-finals of the continental football tournament.

The 27-year-old became the first Super Eagles goalkeeper to keep four consecutive clean sheets in a major tourney in 44 years, surpassing Alloy Agu’s three games in a row in 1990.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Basit Jamiu avatar

Basit Jamiu (Editor) Basit Jamiu is a journalist with more than five years of experience. He is a current affairs and politics editor at Legit.ng. He holds a bachelor's degree from Ekiti State University (2018). Basit previously worked as a staff writer at Ikeja Bird (2022), Associate Editor at Prime Progress (2022), and Staff Writer at The Movee (2018). He is a 2024 Open Climate Fellow (West Africa), 2023 MTN Media Fellow, OCRP Fellow at ICIR, and Accountability Fellow at CJID. Email: basit.jamiu@corp.legit.ng.